Create and receive your first purchase order

Use this guide to save a purchase order, explicitly send it to a supplier and receive a real delivery. It is for the person buying the goods and the person checking them on arrival; they can be different members of your team.

The example buys 72 each of Kraft mailer (MAILER-KR6) from Northwind Packaging at USD 1 per each, delivered to Main Warehouse. The supplier packs those 72 each as three cases of 24 each. The purchase order in this walkthrough uses each throughout, for a line total of USD 72 before additional charges. Substitute your actual supplier, item, agreed prices and quantities.

Before you start

Prepare your workspace and check these records:

• The material exists, has the correct base unit and is linked to the right supplier product. For this direct purchase order, use a supplier mapping in each with a multiplier of 1 and an agreed cost of USD 1 per each. See Supplier products and Units and barcodes for pack-based purchasing.
• Main Warehouse is the intended receiving pool and has a complete supplier shipping address. See Locations and stock pools.
• Your account can create and send purchase orders, and the workspace is ready for the operational actions you need.
• You have reviewed opening inventory and inventory control, including whether the receipt should result in a Shopify update.

Do not enter a receipt merely to try the workflow. Complete receiving only for stock that has physically arrived and been checked.

1. Check the supplier and item

1. Open Suppliers and find your supplier. If it does not exist, choose Add supplier.
2. Enter Company name, the agreed Currency, Payment terms and Standard lead time (days) where known. For the example, use Northwind Packaging and USD.
3. Review Primary contact and the supplier's email address, then Save. Use a real supplier contact before sending.
4. Open the supplier's products and check that the Kraft mailer is linked to the intended material. Confirm the supplier SKU, each unit, multiplier and unit price. If it is missing, follow Link products and configure supplier prices before continuing.

An item name alone is not enough. Confirm the material SKU and unit so that a case price is not accidentally entered as a price per each.

2. Create a draft purchase order

1. Open Purchase orders and choose Create purchase order.
2. Choose Northwind Packaging in Supplier.
3. Choose Main Warehouse in Ship to (stock pool). Check the destination address. The supplier's own billing address is not the delivery destination.
4. Confirm Currency is USD, review Payment terms, and enter your real Requested delivery date if one is agreed.
5. Under Add products, search by the product name, material SKU or supplier SKU and add Kraft mailer.
6. In the line, enter Qty 72, verify UoM is each and set Unit cost to 1.00. Check Line total is USD 72. Review any additional charges separately.
7. Choose Save as draft. Open the saved purchase order and review its supplier, destination, quantities, units and total.

The result is a saved draft. Saving it does not notify the supplier, and it does not add on-hand stock. Keep the purchase order number for later checks.

3. Send the saved order

1. On the saved draft, open Submit.
2. Choose Submit to supplier when you want Zapstra Inventory Management to send the order into the supplier collaboration workflow.
3. Check the resulting order status and supplier collaboration details. If the action reports a problem, inspect the saved order before trying again.

The saved order also offers Mark as ordered. Use that only when the purchase has already been placed outside Zapstra Inventory Management and you need to record that fact. It changes the order's purchasing status without being the supplier-notification action. Do not choose it as a substitute for sending an order that the supplier has not received.

The supplier can review the shared order and respond through the Supplier Portal. Review any proposed changes before treating revised quantities, prices or delivery dates as agreed. Sending or acknowledging an order still does not receive its goods.

4. Receive the physical delivery

When the mailers arrive at Main Warehouse, count and inspect them against the order and delivery paperwork.

1. Open the saved purchase order and choose Receive items.
2. Check the receiving context and each product. The Received fields may be prefilled with the remaining order quantity. Replace those defaults with what you actually accept today.
3. For a complete acceptable delivery in this example, enter Received 72 and Rejected 0.
4. Add useful Receipt notes (internal), such as the delivery note reference. These notes are not shared with the supplier.
5. Review all lines, then choose Complete receipt.
6. Return to the purchase order and inspect the receipt and received totals. Open the material's Stock Levels and Activity to verify the quantity and destination recorded.

For a partial delivery, receive only the arriving quantity. If 48 each arrive first, record 48 each now and leave the remaining 24 each outstanding. When those 24 each physically arrive later, complete a separate receipt for them. See Receive full or partial deliveries for rejection and unfinished-receipt handling.

Check the outcome

The completed receipt records accepted inventory at the receiving destination and updates the purchase order's receiving progress. A full delivery of 72 each should show 72 each received on the order. The resulting available quantity can differ from on hand because of reservations, commitments and other unavailable stock; see Stock quantities.

Shopify updates depend on inventory control, syncing and readiness. Check the material and the mapped Shopify location instead of assuming that a completed receipt proves the store update has already finished. A receipt also does not approve or pay an invoice.

If the screen times out, reopen the original purchase order and check its receipt history before repeating the action. If goods are rejected, their dispute begins as a draft until you send it. If an item, destination or stock quantity is wrong, stop and use the relevant receiving or reconciliation guide before recording a second transaction.